The present invention relates to fishing floats that can be used as platforms for attaching one or more different kinds of attractants, to float-lure combinations, and to kits for assembling the lures, floats, and float-lure combinations. The present invention relates also to a series of fishing floats that include a clip, one or more spiral attachment devices, or a clip combined with a spiral attachment device for attaching or demountably attaching one or more fishing lures or attractants, including natural baits. Such attractants include, for example, natural baits such as grasshoppers, flies, dragonflies, grubs, larvae, worms or other echinoderms, leeches, and replicas thereof.
Fishing lures have various features directed toward minimizing or eliminating snags in water-borne weeds or debris. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,615 to Shaffer discloses a lure having a hook disposed to lie within a shield so that the point of the hook protrudes through an aperture in the shield to assume a fish catching position only when pressure is applied by the mouth of a fish.
Another common problem relating to water-borne lures is that of presenting an attractant which is borne realistically enough to lure fish efficiently. Numerous approaches have been employed in the art in order to provide a realistic attractant. For instance, some lures are configured to replicate small injured fish, swimming frogs, floating flies, spiders, insect larvae, and numerous other fish prey. An additional problem in the field of fishing lures relates to the efficient use of materials in fabricating and assembling the lures. Thus, it is desirable to have the various elements of the lure, such as the float, and parts that make up the attractant portion of the lure, such as the body and wing parts of the attractant, amenable to manufacturing and assembly processes that use a minimal amount of key materials while enabling an acceptable level of performance of the float, the lure, and their various combinations. However, until the present invention, no lure has provided the advantages of a weedless water-borne lure with those of an attractant which replicates realistically the behavior of fish prey while affording efficiencies of assembly and manufacture, and providing the user with multiple adaptations. Thus, there is a need for floats and lures which provide a realistic attractant combined with a weedless configuration which is still capable of easy manufacture at relatively low material costs.